Why the DLP

The problem with traditional degrees

There is a global skills gap in the digital sector, with organisations struggling globally to find the right people with the right skills to help grow their business. Current degree programmes tend to focus on a single aspect of digital skills, rather than giving a broader education covering the technical, business and creative aspects of the skills required. Degrees are also generally not updated quickly enough to reflect the fast-paced change of the digital sector, leading to graduates being taught out of date technologies, techniques and problem solutions. Not only this, but the majority of current degree programmes are too theoretical, with little opportunity for students to be able to test and build their skills in the real-world.

The Digital Leadership Programme solves all of these problems by offering an alternative to a traditional university degree programme. By using active learning throughout the course (learning by doing), partnering with global brands to provide real-world experience and using business leaders and practitioners as well as academics to teach, the programme is a brand new way of learning that will give students a massive advantage in the workplace.

Jobs of the future

Most current degree and higher education programmes are built based on existing and traditional career paths. However, many research studies have shown that a great percentage of jobs in the near future don’t exist yet. So how can we prepare for a job market that we don’t yet know what it will look like? Fundamentally we need skills across a broad range of topics as well as deep knowledge in our particular area of expertise. We need to be T-shaped!

The concept of a T-shaped person is not about their physical appearance, but rather the profile of their skills. The idea is that organisations need people with a deep knowledge of their given area of expertise (this is represented by the straight vertical line of the T) as well as broad knowledge that they can apply to solve a wide range of problems (this is represented by the horizontal line of the T). The need for these broad skills is based on the reality that as the environment we work in changes, we need to solve new problems we have not encountered before, and by using a broad skillset these problems do become road blocks to our progress.

The Digital Leadership Programme gives students a broad skillset covering the technical, creative and business skills they need, as well as hands-on project time and expert support to help develop deep knowledge in the areas that interest them most.

This skills profile, industry recognised qualifications and real-world experience mean that employment prospects for graduates will be exceptional. In fact they are so good, that we are partnering with industry to provide an ‘employment guarantee’ for graduates of the programme, meaning all students will be offered a job at the end of the programme by one of our industry partners (this is underway and completion is expected in late 2019).

Skills gap

Digital has fundamentally changed the way we buy, make decisions and interact with one another. As such, it has become an essential element of not only any business strategy, but is fundamentally changing the world. The environment of constant change has led to a huge skills challenge for individuals and organisations.The pace of change means a simple process of ‘one-off’ training for a particular role is no longer fit for purpose. You can no longer expect to sit on your current skill set and progress, skills need to be updated on an on-going basis, and a fundamental culture of learning needs to be adopted by individuals. At the heart of this, a broad digital education is required that gives the right skills that can be constantly developed and adapted.

The Digital Leadership Programme provides a broad digital education covering the technical, creative and business skills that are needed to thrive in a fast moving environment. Combined with building skills in constant learning and having extensive real-world experience, graduates of the programme can expect to have excellent career opportunities and have the skills and knowledge to help shape the future.